


college!au minghao/the8

by 1pixie



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: College!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-11-17 04:58:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11268414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1pixie/pseuds/1pixie
Summary: You're in your first year of university, and you find a best friend in Joshua Hong. He introduces you to his friends, and a interesting relationship ensues when you embarrass yourself in front of his friend Minghao.





	1. Chapter 1

You scurried through the courtyard, a little out of breath, as you were late for class. You were hopping over bushes, and dodging tree branches. You’re almost to class when you feel a branch catch your sweater, and pulls you back abruptly. You keep pulling away, and the branch tears your sweater and cuts your skin a little. You let out a little ‘ouch,’ and pull the branch out of your sweater. You’re hoping subconsciously that nobody saw that little fiasco, and as you look around, you see one tall boy covering his mouth, laughing. You felt mortified that one of your peers had seen you sprinting through the courtyard and cutting your arm on a tree branch. You tossed your hair behind your ears and kept running, class still on your mind.

After making it to class with only minutes to spare, you sat around the rest of class trying to catch your breath and pay attention. The teacher was talking about chemical bonds, and normally this would be interesting to you, but for some reason you just couldn’t focus. You sat back against the chair, and blew out a puff of air, and tapped your pencil methodically on your paper for a minute. An image flashed into your mind of that tall boy laughing at you, and you almost smacked your head to get the picture out of your mind. It wasn’t something you wanted to recall! _So what if he saw me?_ You thought, beginning to pep yourself up from your embarrassment. _Fuck other people’s opinions!_ you nodded to yourself. _Besides, he probably guessed you were late to class anyway. It’s not that big of a deal!_ you reassured yourself. You made this weird face that was kinda like ‘ _hell yeah I love being my biggest supporter_.’

At this moment, the teachers voice broke through yourself absorbed haze, announcing class was up, and to not forget about the paper due next week. You were already about half way done with that paper, and you made a mental note to finish it up early next week, with time to spare before it was due. You walked out of class slowly, tired from the sprinting you did earlier. You might as well have not gone to that class anyway, seeing how you couldn’t focus the whole time and missed the lecture. You waved your hand around your face, knowing it was fine because you were a good student and there were resources online. You pass by the courtyard, and you find the culprit tree that caught you, and give it a dirty look. You notice a bit of your sweater and a tiny blood stain on the branch. “God.” you mumbled.

You were in your first year of college, and on the path to studying international business, though you knew that your interest could probably change next week. You were more introverted, so you didn’t mind being alone, although you did have a few friends. One friend you had made recently, Joshua, in your bio class, was very nice. He helped you with his notes if you missed something, and was a nice person to have around. He was one of those people that you could sit around and not have to say anything to enjoy each other’s presence, which was something made the good-friend-siren in your head go off. You were about to meet him in the courtyard, nearby that goddamn fucking tree. You waited at a picnic table, head resting on the wood, sun warming your back, eyes comfortably shut, and ready to snooze.

You hear Joshua coming before you can completely fade away, and sit up, chin resting up in your hand. “Hey, Josh,” you said, as he was sitting down. “What’s up?”

He smiled, and set his bag on the picnic table. “My lit class was incredibly boring.” He said. You groaned in sympathy. “Dude, _fuck_ Shakespeare,” you said nonchalantly. “The guy just kills lovers and writes in this old english no one can understand, so you have to completely rely on the Spark Notes translation.”

Joshua laughed. “He’s considered one of the greatest english writers of all time.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to _continue_ considering that.” you countered.

We kept talking for a while about some bullshit stuff, and then Joshua looked over and yelled some hellos at someone. You looked over, and saw the boy that had been laughing at you earlier. He was waving to Joshua from across the courtyard. Your cheeks flushed bright red, and you slapped your hands against your cheeks. “ _Shit!_ ” you cursed. Joshua looked over in confusion, and you watched as the boy was making his way to the two of you. “I gotta go! I embarrassed myself in front of that guy and I’m not about to make this weird!” You grabbed your book bag in a hurry, and scrambled off, tripping over your shoe as you do so. You landed on your stomach, and just closed your eyes as you laid in the grass and accepted your fate for death. Being clumsy is a personal hell. You groaned, and rolled over. Sunshine was streaming over your face, and you squinted against the sun. Remembering the boy, you jolted up, and jogged across the courtyard, not daring to look back, because you _knew_ Joshua and the boy had seen you fall. You’d heard Joshua laugh. _God._

Back in your dorm, you hopped on the bed and kicked your legs around, and rolled over a bit in frustration. _I’m such a dumbass!!!!!!!_ was the ringing phrase running through your head for a good five minutes. You decided to text Joshua, and you typed “fml.” That simple phrase was all you needed to convey your absolute embarrassment to Joshua. He replied with a long “lmaoooooo” and you groaned. You sent a frowny face back and Joshua told you that it was okay, and tried to make you feel better like the nice guy he is. You really hoped you’d never see that guy again. Joshua typed, “Minghao and I thought it was funny! You’re just a comedian don’t freak” and you could finally put a name to the boy who’d you completely ruined your image in front of. Minghao. Alright.

You sent back something about never being so embarrassed in your life and hoping you’d never see Minghao again and you knew Joshua was probably just laughing back in his dorm. The fuck! You’d just have to forget about it and never think about it again. Might as well pour bleach over your brain to completely get rid of the memory. You jumped up and shook your body out a little, and decided a shower would clear your mind.

Freshly cleansed and now a bit more level headed, you sat down to catch up on some homework, and then found yourself knocking out for the night.

The next few days passed without incident, thankfully, and you and Joshua continued to meet in the courtyard and just do homework together, sometimes making a comment about how nice the weather was or a comment about being pissed off about class. It was ideal.

This weekend there was a big party at this frat house, and Joshua suggested for you to go with him. You easily agreed. You weren’t about to turn down an opportunity to party, because after a few weeks of being introverted you look for a big social interaction for have fun at, and then withdraw for a few days again afterwards.

You and Joshua were fast becoming close friends, and could predict each other’s sentences and reactions. You liked to call him Joshy sometimes to see how frazzled he would get and then this exasperation would wash over him.

You two arrived at the party, expectant. You went into the party excited, ready to let loose after dedicating so much time to school recently. You and Joshua didn’t stay together the whole time, you both separated off and found your other friends eventually. Your other friends liked to tease you about Joshua and that you liked him, and you would just sigh. Joshua? A boyfriend? No. That’s not what you wanted, and not what he wanted either. You two were just friends, and could relate to one another easily. You eventually were a little tipsy, and having fun dancing with your friends. Joshua came by and laughed at your tipsy state for a while, and then told you he had to go because he forgot about a paper. You gave him a thumbs up, and wished him luck on the paper.

Once he left, was when things went… different.

You, in your tipsy state, were just a social butterfly and wanted to tell everyone how happy you were. Embarrassing. You didn’t notice him across the room, laughing at you again. You excused yourself to the kitchen, to get some water and rewind. You were kind of dizzy from all that dancing and singing. Someone entered in the kitchen behind you, but you were focused on drinking this water to get the small amount of alcohol out of your system. A voice behind you caused you to jolt and drop the red solo cup of water into the sink. “Nice dance moves; they look a bit similar to the way you run frantically.” You knew exactly who that was.

You closed your eyes, and immediately started screaming internally. Just when you thought that everything was fine! You reluctantly turned around, and found the tall boy just a few feet away. You cursed under your breath, a habit you couldn’t break. “Uhhhh…” you said, floundering. “Hi.”

He laughed, this time not covering his mouth with his hand. “Hi.” He said back. Why couldn’t he just have ignored you and not ever brought up the incidents again! Why must he torture you!

You were going to make a move to slip away, anything to escape this dreaded situation, but you felt the dizziness hit you again. You did feel dehydrated, as you didn’t get to drink much of that water, or anything that whole night, before you spilled it in the sink. You stumbled, and held on to the counter, almost forgetting the boy beside you for a minute. Minghao, you remembered his name, reached out to steady you. You gritted your teeth. Were you about to embarrass yourself in front of him again? Probably.

“Sorry,” you stuttered. “I’m just kinda dizzy.”

He looked worried. “Come on, let’s go find somewhere quiet.”

He led you around the house, and your cheeks were flushed in anguish. Eventually, you two had to settle for outside, because the house was full of drunk dancing people. He wasn’t drunk though, which you found a bit odd, because it _is_ a frat party. Isn’t that what people do at frat parties?

He sat you down on this brick stone wall, and he sat down next to you. Your heart was hammering in your chest with him this close to you. Your embarrassing antics kept flashing through your mind, as well as the way he had laughed at you. The warm late summer air was a bit chilled at night, and it felt nice on your skin. You sighed. “I’m sorry for being a weirdo.” you mumbled. You couldn’t dare look at him.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” His voice was soothing, and made you feel weirdly better. “Why were you so weird around me anyway?” he asked. You looked over at him, curious. “You don’t know that already?” you asked. He shook his head. He had this slightly confused look on his face, his brows pulled in, eyes darting around your face, studying your expression.

You kind of made this exasperated laugh, like the one Joshua made when you called him Joshy. “I made a fool out of myself in front of you and I was just assuming you would make fun of me if we confronted one another. I just choose to avoid situations like that.”

Minghao chuckled a little. “I might’ve teased you, you’re right about that.” You rolled your eyes. Here it comes. The beginning of never ending teasing. “But, you have to admit. It was funny.”

“From an outsider’s view, yeah, it was.”

“You should learn to laugh at yourself.” He said bluntly. You were a little taken back, but you mused on this, and nodded.

“You’re probably right. I just overanalyze everything I do and it makes me feel like everyone is laughing at the stupid shit I do.”

“They are.” He said truthfully. “You’re known as the funny freshman girl on campus.”

You looked at him in shock. “What? I never knew that.”

“People aren’t making fun of you like you think. They’re laughing at you.”

“That doesn’t sound much better.” You raised an eyebrow.

He rubbed his forehead, trying to find the right words. “What I’m trying to say, is…” he furrowed his eyebrows.

You laughed, and shook your head. “I understand, don’t worry. I just need to learn to not take things so seriously sometimes.” You were doing stupid shit and it was funny, but people didn’t think you was a fool because of it. You were just funny. He nodded, grateful you understood.

You rested your hands on the brick wall, and leaned back to stare up at the sky. “So, are you friends with Joshua?” you asked, trying to divert the conversation away from your catastrophes.

He nodded. “He’s in this friend group of ours. It’s us thirteen guys. We’re all pretty close.”

“Oh really?” you mused. “I don’t really think Joshua has mentioned you guys…” you trailed off, thinking. “Or wait. He talks about this guy Coups sometimes, is he in your friend group?”

“Yeah! He’s the oldest out of all of us.” Minghao asserted. “I’d be surprised if Joshua didn’t talk about us to you. He talks about you a lot.”

You almost choked, and looked over at Minghao. “ _What?_ ”

Minghao looked unconcerned. “Yeah, he always shows us the funny things that you text him, and sometimes talks about the times that you get all embarrassed about.”

You were seething. Your eyebrows furrowed, thinking about how you were going to skin Joshua. “I can’t believe this!” you exclaimed. “Joshua…” you shook your head.

Minghao laughed. “I think you’re getting too worked up about this. From what we’ve heard, we all think you’re pretty funny.” Your heart warmed slightly.

“Well I _hope_ my foolishness is funny sometimes.” You scoffed, in a jokingly way. You remembered that you were dehydrated, when a wave of dizziness fell over you. “Woah.” You said, holding your head. Talking to Minghao made you forget how dehydrated you felt.

“Are you okay?” Minghao asked.

“Uh, yeah. I think I just really need some water. I feel dehydrated.”

Minghao shot up. “Stay here, I’ll be back.”

While he was gone briefly, you thought about how this boy didn’t seem to mind your antics, and almost found it endearing. Just an hour ago you never wanted to see him, ever, and now you were talking to him and it was… nice. What the fuck!

You reached up to pull your hair behind your ears, and rubbed your forehead. You were thinking about Minghao, and how now that you were seeing him up close, his features were cute. He had high cheekbones and a boyish smile. You pff’t at the thought of him being cute.

He returned with a big glass of water. You couldn’t help yourself from smiling like an idiot. He kind of looked like an angel, with his lightly bronzed skin, holding your saving grace, water, in his hand, and the outdoor light behind him shining around his head like a halo. You let out this little wheeze of a chuckle, but you didn’t really care because you wanted that water.

You could feel his amused eyes on you while you _chugged_ that water. When you were done, you let out a little burp, and laughed. Minghao laughed along with you. “Sorry,” you said. He shook his head. “Don’t apologize.”

“Sorry I acted like a fool in front of you and then avoided you so you couldn’t make fun of me haha,” you laughed emotionlessly.

“ _Really_ don’t worry about it. It’s okay.”

“Sorry if I ruined your fun time at this party.”

“ _It’s okay!”_

You kept apologizing for stupid things, until eventually, he just put his finger over your lips, effectively cutting off your speech. “___ please, it’s alright. Stop apologizing. I liked getting to talk to you.” Your heart was hammering in your ribs.

You nodded, and he took his finger away. “You should come hang out with all the boys sometime, so the other guys can put a face to a name.”

You shuddered. “We’ll see.”

He looked hopeful that you would come, or maybe you were deluding yourself. 13 boys kind of sounded like a nightmare. You weren’t sure what Joshua might do. What if he brought up something embarrassing you did in front of all those boys? _You’re being overly dramatic and kinda paranoid._ The voice in your head told you. _Knock that shit off!_

“Do you not like alcohol?” you asked rather brashly. You hit yourself mentally for asking that so suddenly.

He looked a little surprised, his eyebrows flying up. He recovered, and pushed his brown hair out of his eyes and back, and then you watched it slowly fall back down. “I do, sometimes. But, it’s pretty funny to watch drunk people while you’re sober.”

“I see.”  You mused. “What year are you?”

“I’m a freshman. The older boys in our group are sophomores.” You nodded.

“Do you know what you’re studying?” you asked, rolling the solo cup around in your hands.

“I’m looking at marine biology. What about you?” A marine biologist. It suited him.

“International business.” He whistled. “That sounds like it could be hard.”

You shrugged. “I’m willing to work hard to study something I love.”

“Wow, poetic.” He joked. You looked over, and pushed his arm. “Shut up.”

It was so easy to talk to Minghao. This was your first conversation with him, all based on you running into a tree in front of him. He wasn’t going to make it awkward by making fun of you, but he also knew how to tease you without making you feel like an idiot, and instead laugh at yourself. 

You two sat in silence for a while and just looked up at the sky, and again, that good-friend-siren was going off in your head. Anyone who tolerated your antics and sat and stared at the night sky with you in silence sounded like a good friend. Your thoughts shifted to the way he had pushed his hair back earlier, and you shuddered.

You sighed. “I should probably leave soon. This party has drained me physically and emotionally.”

“Do you have a ride back or a friend to go with?” he asked.

You thought. “Shit. Now that I think about it, Joshua was who I was going to go back with, and he left. My friends live in different dorms across the campus.” You groaned. “I _really_ don’t want to die tonight walking back to the dorm, but it seems that might be what happens. I had it coming.” You joked, getting up and stretching.

He hopped up immediately. “No way am I letting you walk home alone this late at night!”

You were a little shocked. He looked so… determined to walk you home. He had looked cute and innocent thus far, but he seemed to secretly be a bit fierce and strong. His arms were crossed, his rolled up long sleeve tee shirt stretching across his shoulders. You gulped. “Are you sure? Are you okay with leaving the party?”

He waved his hand. “I wasn’t going to stay much longer anyway. You were the funniest person here, anyway. Once you leave no one will be as funny to watch or listen to.” You blushed crimson, and cleared your throat.

“Okay, well, shall we go then?” you asked, scratching the back of your head, trying to ignore your red cheeks. Minghao was so forward and blunt.

He nodded, and the two of you walked through the house, you saying bye to your friends if you saw them nearby. They raised their eyebrows at Minghao, but you really didn’t feel like explaining. After all, you weren’t really sure what to explain. You’d made a fool out of yourself a few times in front of him and shied away, and you guys talked tonight and he got you water? There wasn’t much to explain. Your heart fell slightly. You kind of wanted to keep talking to him, because he was a good listener, but he didn’t have much reason to come see you again. Unless you hung out with all thirteen boys. You shuddered at the thought.

The two of you walked along the frat house street, the large trees reaching over your heads. He was humming under his breath. His voice was soft and melodic. “You have a nice voice.” You said shyly, and quietly. He flashed you a smile in thanks.

The two of you didn’t talk much, just walked in silence side by side enjoying the college campus late at night. It was nice. You didn’t feel like you needed to say anything. Minghao was very easy to talk to, and easy to be around. He was easygoing.

You stopped in front of your dorm, and looked up at him. You finally noticed that he towered over you in probably five inches or so. “Well,” you sighed. “I live here.”He was looking at you like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. “Thanks for walking me home,” You finally said. “I really appreciate it. I might’ve gotten jumped and died if you hadn’t tagged along.” You were joking, but you also knew that was a very real possibility of happening, and that depressed the hell out of you.

He nodded. “It’s no problem, really. Let me know if you need someone to walk with from a party again, I’ll gladly do it.” You smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Minghao.” You said, voice light and airy.

You turned to walk away, but you stopped and said, “I hope I’ll see you again sometime.” Your cheeks tinged pink.

“Me too,” he smiled. “If I see you I’ll come say hi.”

You pulled your hair around your ear, smiled slightly, and turned to walk up the sidewalk to the door.

Once you had gotten to your room, you quietly walked around the room and got to bed, trying not to disturb your sleeping roommate. Once you were in bed, you stared at the ceiling and reached up to hold your cheeks. Tonight’s events kept flashing through your head, and the way Minghao smiled was one you distinctly remembered. Shy, but as the night went on he smiled bigger and bigger. You sighed in the darkness, and turned around to fall asleep, hoping for a good night’s rest.


	2. Chapter 2

When you woke up, you almost forgot what had happened last night. You had slept dreamlessly last night, your brain too tired to conjure up any images. You rolled out of bed, hanging your legs over the bed, hair probably looking like a bird nest. You sighed, and got up stretch. Your roommate was gone, probably getting breakfast.

            You decided to take a shower, since you didn’t last night after all that dancing. You froze, the events from last night flooding into your brain. You chewed on your fingernail, thinking of all the embarrassing things you did last night while tipsy, as well as the embarrassing stuff you did while you were dehydrated. You remembered how Joshua was spilling your embarrassing secrets to his friends, and you gritted your teeth. You pulled out your phone to text Joshua that he was dead.

            Thankfully, it was the weekend though. You could rewind and relax a little. College was a lot more taxing than you’d realized. But, you were afloat. You weren’t drowning yet. Yet.

            After showering, you sat down to attend to the matter that was your bare face. You hummed quietly while sliding mascara onto your lashes, and was reminded of the way Minghao sung under his breath. You shook your head, clearing your thoughts. You didn’t understand why he kept coming to mind, you’d only just met him. Did he make that big of an impact on you? Why was he different from any other person you’d met here?

            After getting ready for the day, Joshua texted you and told you to meet him at his dorm. You grabbed your room key and phone, and headed out the door. Sample phrases were running through your head, trying to figure out which would be the best to scold Joshua for exposing you to his friends.

            You had headphones in, walking across campus. You sang along quietly to the words flowing through the ear buds, enjoying the warm day as you made your way to Joshua’s dorm across the courtyard. You’d been in Joshua’s dorm room plenty of times, mostly when it was rainy out in courtyard and you couldn’t sit at your usual picnic table, or if it was too late outside. You’d seen Joshua’s roommate a couple of times, his name was Seokmin. Now that you think about it, he was probably in Joshua’s friend group. God! What else did Joshua not tell you?

            You finally stood in front of Joshua’s door, and knocked on the door, and pulled your ear buds out. You noticed the large commotion in the room once you pulled the ear buds out. Oh… no. This couldn’t be what you thought it was?

            Your fear was confirmed when Joshua pulled open the door, exclaiming your name, and opening the door to reveal a large group of boys sitting around his dorm room. You stared at Joshua with wide alarmed eyes, your heart kicking into panic mode. You didn’t really like being around this many watchful eyes, especially when you didn’t know what Joshua had told them.

            “Joshua!” you said under a hushed tone.

            He just smiled and grabbed your arm and pulled you inside, and a group of 13 boys bored holes into you. You grimaced and sputtered out, “Uhhhh… hello?”

            They all laughed, and you looked over at Joshua, confused.

            “She’s just like you said!” one said, laughing.

            “Oh, uh? Glad I can be consistent.” You said, pushing your ear phones into your pocket.

            They laughed at this too, and you suddenly felt like a comedian. They just laughed and clapped their hands at every awkward or sarcastic thing you said. Joshua punched your arm jokingly. “This was the only way I could get you meet all the guys, by not telling you that you were meeting the guys!” Joshua laughed.

            “You’re dead.” You gritted through your teeth under your breath. Joshua wasn’t fazed by your usual threats. You couldn’t look at the boys, you were terrified. This was too many watchful eyes on you. At least at frat parties people don’t really spare you a glance because they’re too self-absorbed.

            Joshua put his arm around your shoulder and steered you to look forward. “Guys, this is ___. She’s the best friend I’ve met here, outside of you guys.”

            You blushed at Joshua’s heartfelt comment. He was way too nice, and you had no idea how he continued to be friends with you. You felt miles away from him sometimes. He was up on this high moral mountain and you were stumbling in the trees to the summit. But, he would always reach a hand out to help you up.

            You steeled yourself to look at all the faces in front of you. One face you knew definitely. Minghao was smiling at you. You blushed, and shyly grinned back. Seeing Minghao, you wondered if he had told any of the guys in this group about your conversation together last night.

“Anyway guys, introduce yourself!”

            They said their names one by one; Seungcheol (or Coups, he said), Jeonghan, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Jihoon (the other boys called him Woozi though), Seokmin (you knew him), Mingyu, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Chan. Minghao didn’t introduce himself, obviously. You knew him.

            You’d have to remember all their names, but you guessed you were going to be seeing more of them. Joshua looked absolutely thrilled his best friend and his best friends were meeting. Two worlds were colliding in his eyes.

            You all sat down, and the boys carried on their conversation from before you came in. Seungkwan, you noticed, seemed to be the comedian in the group and knew how to say the exact thing to make the others laugh. You couldn’t keep up, and got a little lost. Joshua was next to you, and patted your leg encouragingly every once in a while when he noticed you got quiet. He knew you didn’t like situations like this sometimes. Minghao was sitting a few people away, and you couldn’t stop yourself from shooting him a glance every once in a while. He was wearing a tee shirt today, and you noticed the studs in his ears you didn’t notice yesterday. He even had an earring hanging in the shape of an infinity sign. You wondered what it meant to him.

            Then Seungcheol asked you what you were planning to major in. “international business.” You answered.

            “Hey, that’s what Jeonghan is studying!” Vernon said. Jeonghan waved his hand. Jeonghan was a sophomore and told you that you could ask him if you had any questions about the major. You thanked him, grateful you knew someone else in your major.

            Minghao mocked quietly, “You have to be willing to work hard for something you love.” The boys didn’t hear, but you heard him.

            You shot him a pointed look, and he winked when the boys weren’t looking. Your heart beat quickened, and you looked away because someone else was asking you about your interest and such. You tried to get the uncomfortable attention off of you by asking some of the boys what their year and major was. Jihoon, or Woozi, was a sophomore, studying music, and wanted to be a producer. The other boys said he already was a producer, at this point. Woozi looked very serious about music, and he wasn’t having the boys’ antics most of the time.

            You were feeling a little overwhelmed and excused yourself to the bathroom, though you really just wanted to get some air outside of the cramped room. You splashed water on your face in the bathroom, and felt refreshed to go back.

            Walking back into the room, you resumed your place by Joshua, but you noticed that Minghao had switched places with Jun to sit next to you. Him and Jun seemed to be close friends, they kept talking to each other and laughing. Minghao was quiet, but he was not quiet with Jun. You oddly felt better with him next to you. You knew you could depend on him if something happened, as he proved to you already.

            Honestly, all you wanted to do was prove yourself. Joshua seemed like he had talked you up, and you felt like you needed to live up to it. Where were your funny comments when you needed them?

            One boy brought it up – the incident you used to shrivel up and die from. “So, ___ what’s all about that time you tripped the other day in front of Joshua and Minghao?” Seungkwan asked, clearly looking for a funny story.

            Joshua looked nervous and shot a warning look to his friend. Unexpectedly, you burst out laughing. Minghao and Joshua looked surprised. Normally, you would have, as said earlier, shriveled up and died. But now, you felt almost… above it. You were resolved from it after talking to Minghao, so now you seemed to see the hilarity.

            You started explaining how you had embarrassed yourself in front of Minghao with the tree incident, and you found your confidence returning. Nothing like a funny story that was making others laugh to gain your confidence. Minghao was laughing too, which made you a little giddy.

            “I was so fucking embarrassed and I just _couldn’t_ face him because I thought he would make fun of me! And I ended up embarrassing myself in front of him again when I tried to avoid confrontation.” you hit your forehead. Laughter was echoing around you by all the boys. “You just can’t win, I guess. I literally face planted in front of him _and_ Joshua.”

            Joshua went on a little tangent about how funny it was when you fell down, and you shoved him in faux anguish.

            “It looked so… painful when you fell. Did you get hurt?” Minghao asked you quietly while Joshua was still making fun of you. You looked over to him.

            “To be honest, I don’t really remember. I just remembered how embarrassed I was. It overshadowed everything else.” you admitted. “As far as I know, I’m okay. I’ve always had this weird rib that pops out of place sometimes but I think my fall actually fixed it. It hasn’t popped since I fell…” you murmured, lost in thought about your fucking rib. His gaze on you made your fingers tap on your leg anxiously.

            Minghao laughed at this. “Maybe you should have gotten that rib checked out.”

            You waved your hand. “It’s fine now. Besides, I don’t have the money for a doctor’s visit.”

            Minghao would ask you about things every once in a while, and would absorb you in conversation. The look in his eyes was so earnest and honest – you just wanted to spill your whole life story when you looked into his eyes. You told him some things here and there about your siblings, and your parents. You wanted to ask him things, but you couldn’t find the courage, and every time you wanted to turn to him someone was asking you something or telling you a story about a boy in the group, usually Joshua. The stories were funny, at least. You’d never seen this side of Joshua.

            Eventually, the room cleared out as people went to lunch. You felt your stomach growl, so you excused yourself to your dining hall. You weren’t sure if they were meeting up after this, so you decided not to say goodbye. After exiting Joshua’s dorm, you heard someone come out behind you. Minghao caught up to you.

            “I figured we could eat together.” Minghao said easily. This kid was so honest and straightforward. He told you exactly what he wanted or what he felt.

            You tried to gain the same confidence he had, and grinned. “I would love to.”

            The two of you took your time walking to the dining hall. You could feel heat rushing up to your cheeks, but you’d hoped Minghao just thought it was because of the warm sun. You two didn’t say much, just a few comments here and there about the weather, or the activities going on around.

            You got your lunch quicker, and sat down at a small table near the large windows, like you often did. These windows looked out onto the sea, one of the reasons you chose this university. You loved water, and the ocean. You found yourself encapsulated by the rolling waves, head resting on your hand.

            “Pretty, right?” a voice jolted you out of your reverie. You looked over, and saw Minghao looking at you. You smiled. “Yes. I love the sea. I could look at it for hours.”

            He sat down across from you at the small table, setting his tray down. “I could too. It’s breathtaking.”

            “You’ll get to look at the sea all the time as a marine biologist.” You commented, turning back towards him. He nodded, taking his turn to glance out on the sea.

            “What kind of food did you get?” you asked, pointing at his tray with your fork.

            He looked back at you, and grinned. “Chinese. I always get Chinese food whenever I get homesick.” You saw a flood of memories flash across his eyes, and he shook his head.

            “Did you move here from China?” You asked, and pushed your hair behind your shoulder. You noticed that he often watched you while you played with your hair.

            “When I was a teenager. My family is all here, though.”

            “That’s good!” you said. “Do you get to see them? Do you go home on long weekends?”

            He shook his head. “I can only fly out on breaks. They’re across the country. I came out here for the good science programs.”

            You nodded. “My family is on the other side of the country as well. My other half of the dorm room is empty on weekends sometimes because my roommate’s family is close to here.”

            “She’s lucky.” He said.

            You sighed. “She is. But, that room gets lonely without her.”

            “Next time she leaves for a weekend, just text me. I’ll keep you company.” He said honestly. You blushed, and smiled shyly.

            “Okay, I will.” You thought about Minghao lounging in your dorm room, just talking to you. It sounded so nice. You were getting way too attached to this boy, too quickly. What was it about him that drew you to him? “But, how will I-”

            He pulled out his phone, and handed it to you. “You read my mind.” You laughed, putting in your number. You handed it back to him, and then pulled out your phone and gave it to him. His long fingers tapped on the screen, entering his information. He handed it back to you, brushing your wrist with his fingers. Your skin tingled where his fingers had brushed you.

            You ate in a comfortable atmosphere, laughing at each other when one of you dropped food or asking one another about their classes and schedules. You both loved to travel, and obviously both loved the sea.

            “Are you taking a language? You usually have to take a language when you’re studying international business.” Minghao asked, twirling his earring around.

            You nodded. “Next semester I’m starting my first Mandarin class.”

            His face brightened like the sun coming out from behind clouds. You felt a little blinded for a moment. “Really?” He asked, giddy.

            “Really!” You said, laughing at his response. “I’m excited too. But maybe not as much as you.”

            He sighed happily, and leaned back in his chair. “I can help you next semester if you need.” He said, patting his chest.

            You raised an eyebrow. “Really? You’d be willing to take time out of your day to help me?”

            He scoffed. “Of course. It’s no big deal. Besides, we can spend more time together that way.” You smiled at the thought of that.

            “Alright, deal. I’ll let you know if I need help.”

            He was considerably happier after that, but you weren’t sure why he was so eager to help you. Was he maybe feeling just as intoxicated by your presence like you felt by his? Maybe you weren’t the only one feeling this way?

            After lunch, the two of you sat outside by a tree, looking out on the water. All of this felt so surreal. Yesterday you wanted nothing to do with him, then you talked to him, and suddenly you couldn’t get enough of him and his direct remarks. You shook your head in disbelief. You’d never felt this way before.

            You laid back in the grass, sun washing over you. Minghao was resting his back against the tree, and you could feel his eyes on your face, but you didn’t mind. You’d been sneaking peeks at him this whole time. The more you had looked at him, the more realized how attractive you found him. Great. This was just what you needed. You couldn’t let yourself believe you were developing a crush. God help you if you were.

            You could hear the waves crashing, and you could hear people chattering quietly in the background. You sighed peacefully, and pulled your blowing hair behind your ears. “Do you guys usually hang out after lunch too?” you asked, opening your eyes.

            He didn’t even try to hide the fact he had been staring at you. He shrugged. “Most of the time.” He said. You sat up, and turned towards him.

            “Should we go back then?” you asked.

            He searched your face for a moment, and then finally said, “I suppose.”

            You could tell neither of you really wanted to leave, but you didn’t want Joshua or someone walking by and seeing you two and asking a bunch of questions. You wouldn’t know what to tell them. You two became fast friends? What if they could tell you maybe had a crush on him? You didn’t want to confront that yet.

            “I almost fell asleep.” You joked. “That was way too peaceful.”

            “I could see some drool coming out of your mouth.”

            You rolled your eyes. “Okay, jackass.”

            He giggled, and your heart almost stopped. His giggle was almost the cutest thing you’d ever heard. You pinched your arm, trying to stop yourself from thinking these things. Who the hell were you these days?

            When you two went back into Joshua’s room, you saw almost everyone back in the room. Minghao resumed his place next to you, his back against Seokmin’s bed, his long legs stretched out. Joshua raised his eyebrow at you two walking in together, but he didn’t say anything. He asked you what you had to eat.

            The rest of the boys came in, and their chatter started up again. You felt more comfortable around them, and your witty remarks were coming back to you. Thank god. After another hour or so of chatter and laughter, the boys broke off in little groups to go things outside of the dorm room. You headed out with all of them through the door, and a Seungcheol told you that you should come by and hang out with them all again. The other boys shouted a chorus of agreement. You rolled your eyes. “You guys can’t get enough of me huh? Alright. I’ll stop by again soon.” The boys laughed, and you turned away, waving over your shoulder as you walked down the stairs on the other side of the hallway.

            You returned back to your dorm room, exhausted from all the interactions today. You needed time to rewind. You spent the rest of the day napping, or working on homework. Around 9 at night, your phone buzzed, and you saw a new name – Minghao. You immediately sucked in a breath, and leaned over to look at the message.

            _It was nice to talk to you today. I hope the guys didn’t intimidate you too much._

You smiled, and hovered your finger over the screen, thinking of what to reply back.

            _Yeah, I’m glad I got to make an impression on you of sober me as opposed to tipsy and dehydrated me._ You giggled to yourself a little. You were learning to laugh at yourself, as Minghao had echoed you should. _I was a little intimidated, but I hope that didn’t show._

            You chewed on your fingernail, waiting for a response. A ding jolted you.

            _Sober you isn’t as funny as dehydrated and tipsy you, but I’ll take it nonetheless_. You rolled your eyes.  _You looked a little uneasy at first, lol. But the guys keep talking about how funny you were, so you made a good impression!_

You typed, _I always look slightly uneasy lol._

            The two of you exchanged banter for a little while, until you admitted you were tired and needed to go to bed. Minghao agreed that he would too, and you both drifted to sleep, phones close your faces.


	3. Chapter 3

            A week later on Friday after classes, you walked down the stairs of your dorm in a chipper mood. You felt like you were finally finding your place in school. And even though that group of boys was wildly intimidating, you could see yourself bonding with them, as Joshua had assumed you would. You skipped down the wooden steps outside to the small stretch of rocky beach, and then took off your sandals so you could walk in the water. You held your shoes in your hands, and walked along the beach, humming quietly, sun shining on your skin. You twirled around once, and almost lost your balance, causing a stream of bubbled laughter to escape your throat.

            The water did this to you sometimes. Added to the excitement of meeting new friends, the coming of the weekend, you were almost unrecognizable with this good mood. You’d walked this stretch of sand many times since you’d come here, especially when you were feeling troubled or out of place. The water was always soothing.

            Your thoughts, of course, drifted to Minghao. You thought about how happy he was when you agreed to let him help you in Mandarin occasionally. And thought about his witty responses while texting you, which had continued throughout the week. You sighed, and stared out into the ocean. What path were you two going on? You shook your head. Every time you got a text notification from him, your heart would leap in a glee that was embarrassing to admit.

            You tried to shake off your unease, and began to kick the water around. You felt like a little kid at this point. You laughed to yourself, and sighed. You were mad.

            You looked down the stretch of beach, and saw a kid in a blue university windbreaker leaning by the water, taking notes. You tilted your head in curiosity, watching his brown hair swirl in the wind. When you saw his earrings, you knew it was him.

            You laughed out loud, and jogged over to him. “Xu Minghao? Is this the marine biology legend in flesh?”

            His head shot up in surprise, and once he saw you, his face lit up in a smile. “___. What are you doing here?”

            “I always walk on the beach whenever I’m feeling sentimental.”

            He chuckled. “Why are you feeling sentimental?”

            You shrugged, sitting down next to him in the sand. “Just in a good mood I guess. I try not to question it when it comes, and just go with it.” You would expect your heart to be hammering in nervousness, but you felt oddly calm next to him. He kept scribbling notes, but he was grinning. “What are you doing?” you asked, looking over at him. He glanced over at you, his hair pushed back from his forehead because of the wind. You felt your heartbeat quicken. _Stop that!_ You yelled internally at your heart. _It’s just his forehead! Chill the hell out!_

“I’m doing work for one of my biology courses. I have to study the life around our local beach, and then do some follow up research on how it lives.”

            “And what life have you found to study?” you asked, rolling you head on your shoulder.

            “I found a hermit crab a while ago. I’m just finishing writing, because it ran away a few minutes ago. I think it ran away once it saw you,” he joked, flashing a smile before closing his notebook.

            “What in the hell!” you huffed, pretending to be hurt.

            He leaned over to ruffle your hair. “Just kidding, miss sentimental.”

            You rolled your eyes. “Are you enjoying yourself?” you asked.

            He nodded. “Immensely.”

            The wind blew around you two, causing his wind breaker to flap around, and your hair to fly around your face in a tangled mess. You sighed, and pulled your hair up into a messy bun to get it out of your face. The wind felt nice at least, pushing away some of the humidity in the air.

“You look pretty today,” he suddenly blurted out, as you pulled the hair tie around your hair. You looked at him, and cocked an eyebrow. His face flushed red for once, and he looked down at his notebook. You were definitely not expecting that, but you weren’t about to let him catch you off guard.

“I’m wearing running shorts and our university’s tee shirt. I look pretty in this?” you laughed, a bit shakily, pulling at the fabric of your shirt.

            He laughed. “For some reason, yeah, you do.” He said, gaining back his confidence at your banter. You shook your head. “I look like I’m in rags compared to your dashing research outfit. How can I compete?” you shrugged your shoulders helplessly. He _did_ look good in his blue windbreaker though. He rolled his eyes. “It’s true!” You said, poking his arm. Playfully arguing with Minghao like this was so easy and natural. You two had only known each other a short while, yet you felt like he could understand your humor in a way most others couldn’t, and bounced your humor back at you.

            “Whatever,” Minghao laughed.

            “Have you eaten yet?” you asked, silently hoping that he hadn’t so you could have dinner with him.

            He mused, scratching his chin. “No, I haven’t,” he finally decided. He flashed you a smiled. “Wanna get dinner together?”

            You smiled in response and nodded, heart leaping. It was embarrassing how happy you were to simply eat a meal with him. He got up, dusting sand off his legs, and you did the same. His hand reached out suddenly to brush some sand off your arm that you had missed, causing your voice inside your head to scream. He grinned in a devilish way that made you feel like he knew how fast your heart was beating.

            You sat again by the big window in the cafeteria, waiting for Minghao to come back. There was scattered chattering in the cafeteria, and you think you might have noticed the boys’ laughter somewhere, but you weren’t too sure. You looked around and spotted Seungkwan balancing a spoon on his nose. You suddenly worried if Minghao would want to eat with his friends instead of you. You still couldn’t really grasp that he seemed to like to talk to you and spend time with you, after all the weird shit you’d done and said. Your anxious voice was spiraling off into wild directions, but was silenced when a tray was put down in front of you and a figure sat down, cutting off your view of the boys.

            Minghao sighed. “They didn’t have any bananas today. What the hell.”

            You stuffed a strawberry in your mouth, and fought back a smile. He had decided to sit with you. He puffed air out of his mouth. You instinctively reached out to ruffle his hair without thinking. “Oh, poor kid.” You sympathized jokingly.

            “What have you been up to this week?” He asked, pushing the sleeves of his windbreaker up.

            “Oh, nothing much. I wrote a paper, I took a lot of naps. You and Joshua were really the only people that I talked to.” You shrugged. “What about you?”

            “I had to work on some stuff in my biology courses. I had to write a paper, and also start my research project, which you just saw.” He replied.

            You and Minghao started up a conversation about this and that, and about half way through the conversation, you were looking at him explaining something with his hands about China and his childhood home and it hit you.

            This warm feeling settled over you, watching him try to explain something that he loved as a child, struggling to find the exact words. You noticed his long and delicate fingers as he waved them around. His eyebrows furrowed, and he pushed his hair back, frustrated. You smiled as if in a dreamy haze.

            Minghao looked at you and noticed your dreamy smile, raising an eyebrow. “What?” he asked.

            You knew it then. The way his lips pouted when he was thinking, or the way he would push his hair back, or play with his earrings. You had a fucking _crush_ on Minghao. _Fuck._

            “You look cute trying to explain it.” You muttered, looking back down at your tray to pick at your food. Your entire body felt like it was on fire. Your brain wasted no time in jumping to paranoia. _What if he didn’t like you back? What if you would be ruining your friendship if your crush went badly?_

            “I just couldn’t find the _words!_ ” he sputtered. He patted his hair down on his forehead, trying to fix his appearance.

            You laughed nervously. This new revelation of your crush was already driving you crazy. You needed to cool it. It would look weird if you suddenly got _weird_ around him. He would notice. _It’s not like anything had changed!_ You told yourself. _Just act like yourself._

            You shivered, and played with your hair again, something you often did while nervous. You felt his eyes on your hands in your hair, and you cleared your throat, pushing more food into your mouth. Damn it. _Just act fucking normal, ___._

            “So, how are the boys? Are they hanging out again this weekend?” you asked, trying to distract yourself from your thoughts.

            “They hang out every weekend.” Minghao laughed. “Actually, we’re all meeting up tomorrow at a frat house for a party. It’s the same frat house that we officially met at, actually.”

            “Oh, _that_ frat house?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. _Fuck._

            “You should come with us, they keep talking about how they want to see you again.”

            You rolled your eyes. “Of course, they are.”

            “So, will you go?” he looked hopeful.

            You shrugged. “Yeah, sure. I’m not doing anything tomorrow night.” You knew this was a disaster waiting to happen, but hey, what the hell. And, you wanted to hang out with those boys again. They would all be a fun distraction from your _crush_ on Minghao. But the voice inside your head was telling you that you were going to this party just so you could talk to Minghao longer.

            Minghao grinned. “Great. Meet us there at 10! It’ll be so much more fun with you there.”

            “Am I the life of the party?” You asked, sipping your lemonade.

            “Yes.” He nodded. “You definitely are. For me, at least.”

            You almost choked on your lemonade, and your cheeks burned. “Uh. Thank you?” Did he just say that you were the life of his party? Or were you imagining things? Jesus.

            He laughed, covering his mouth, giving you déjà vu of when you first saw him and he laughed at you from afar, covering his mouth as he laughed. “You’re welcome.”


	4. Chapter 4

            Around 10, you arrived at the fated frat house. You weren’t sure where the boys where, and if they were even here yet. You scratched the back of your head, staring at the house. Music was pulsating from the house, and people were littered around, both inside and outside. You figured you’d be able to hear the boys if they were here, so you went inside to see if you could find them. 

            The party seemed to be in full swing now. You glanced around, searching for any familiar faces. You were nervous. You could hear your heart pounding in your ears. Passing the kitchen, you decided to grab some alcohol to pass off your nerves. The liquid was rough and hot down your throat, and you twisted your lips in distaste. Whatever. This was how cheap, party alcohol tasted.

            Finally, you saw them. You sighed in relief, and walked up to the group of boys laughing in the living room. They seemed to have just gotten here, they were all standing around, and none of them had drinks. You placed your drink on a table before tapping on who you presumed to be Coups’ shoulder. Coups turned around quickly, and when he saw you, standing there with a smile on your face, he smiled and yelled, “___!” He grabbed both of your arms and pulled you into the circle. You were greeted with a chorus of yells of your name. You waved awkwardly to the group. You had only met them once; you were still awkward with new people at first, but eventually you softened up. They laughed at your awkward wave. God, anything you did slightly embarrassing would be magnified by these boys tonight.

            You spotted Minghao immediately. He was smiling at you, and you smiled back a bit bigger than necessary. He looked cute. You tried not to stare, but the snug black tee shirt and yellowish-brown jacket with black jeans was a look. His hair looked soft as hell and you wanted to run your fingers through it.

            _Stop!!!!!!!! That!!!!!!!!!!!!_ You screamed at yourself inside your head. You did a lot of that.

You shook your head, and tried to pay attention to what the group was talking about. You noticed Seokmin nudging Minghao with his elbow and grinning at him from the corner of your eye. Minghao pointedly ignored him. The group talked for a bit, until they started to dissolve a bit to go say hi to others. Joshua came up to talk to you, and captured your attention. Chan joined in on the conversation as well. Chan had you laughing until you had to hold your stomach, and you snorted a little. You, Joshua, and Chan ended up just laughing at each other for a while. So far, this party was going well.

            Joshua and you went to get some alcohol, and while you were sipping the harsh liquid, Joshua said, “So, I wasn’t going to ask, but I can’t hold my tongue much longer. What’s going on between you and Minghao?” You choked on your drink, and coughed.

            “ _Joshua.”_ You said, exasperated.

            He looked at you expectantly. “I’m waiting. I know you guys have hung out a few times. I noticed that he was texting you throughout the week. You don’t even text me that much! What’s going on?” he asked.

            You rubbed your forehead. You really didn’t want to talk about this. You didn’t even know what was going on. “Has Minghao said anything to you?” you asked.

            “I had to practically squeeze it out of him for him to say you two had hung out a few times. He said you two were friends, but I’m not sure if I believe it.”

            You sighed. “We are friends, I think. I’m not really sure what’s going on if I’m being honest.”

            Joshua looked puzzled, and studied your face, and then a devilish smile crossed his face. “Do you _like_ Minghao, ___?”

            You felt your face pale. “Um, no. No way in hell,” you said defensively.

            “HAH!” Joshua laughed loudly. “You _do._ Holy shit. I knew it.”

            There was no use in arguing. He knew. “Joshua!” you said, tugging his arm. “ _Please_ don’t tell anyone. I just barely figured it out myself that I liked him. I don’t know what to do.” You figured that you had liked him before you had realized it, but it still felt so new.

            He calmed his suddenly wild attitude, and gave you a reassuring pat on the head. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

            “Okay, thank you.” You breathed. You crossed your arms, and looked down at your feet, hating yourself for the question you were about to ask. “So, uh, he hasn’t said anything about me?” You tried to ask coolly.

            Joshua gave you a knowing look. “Not to me. He probably knew I would tell you, because we’re so close. I’m betting he told Jun, if anyone. He doesn’t seem the type to spill his crushes.” He rubbed your shoulder. “But, I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and the way he acts when you’re around. I have a funny feeling that something is going on with him.”

            You peeked up. “You think so?”

            “___, go talk to him. That’s the only way to make anything happen.”

            You groaned. “I can’t. I’m nervous as hell to talk to him now that I _know_ I like him. I’m always afraid I’m gonna fuck up around him and ruin it all.”

            “You’ve already embarrassed yourself multiple times in front of him and he stuck around. I don’t think you could do anything at this point to drive him away.” Joshua said, shrugging. You nodded, biting your nails.

            You set your drink down, and pulled your shoulders up straight, and held up your chin, taking on a stance of confidence. “I’m not going to let this scare me into shyness. I’m just going to be my normal, strong, funny self.” Joshua grinned and held up a hand for you to high five.

            You found the group of boys again, who had rejoined. You tried your boost of confidence, and tossed your arms around the shoulders of Vernon and Hoshi.

            “Hello boys. I’m back.” You announced to the group. You were met with a chorus of yells of your name again, some of them a bit slurred because most of the boys were intoxicated.

            Jeonghan and Hoshi were surprised, but quickly laughed. You withdrew your arms. “Sorry,” you said to them. “It felt right.”

            “No worries,” Hoshi said. “We all like to see you having fun.”

            You laughed. “I _am_ having fun, for once!” You could feel Vernon laughing at you, or maybe with you. You were laughing too. Everyone was laughing. All of these boys were always laughing.

            You struck up a conversation with Vernon and Hoshi, having a good time getting to know them, but stepped away once Hoshi ran away to the bathroom to vomit.

            You stood still again, a bit spaced out, because no one was talking to you. You held Hoshi’s solo cup, that he had shoved to you before he ran away, watching the dark liquid inside slosh around. You felt someone standing in front of you. You looked up, and found the warm dark eyes that made your heart race. “Hi, Minghao. What’s up?” you said. 

            He grinned. “Are you having fun?” he asked, loudly over all the music and people talking.

            You laughed. “I’m was a bit nervous when I first got here, but I learned to loosen up. I’m having fun now.”

            “Why were you nervous?” he asked, taking a sip of a cup out of his own cup.

            You shrugged. You may have had a drink, but you still had a clear head. You weren’t sure if you wanted to spill your feelings tonight, when you had just realized them. You knew you were entering dangerous waters.

            You and Minghao were slowly, without realizing it, drifting away from the group to a quiet part of the living room. You sat down on a nearby empty couch, and yawned. You didn’t realize how tired you were. Minghao sat down next to you, looking out on the scene of partiers with a feigned interest and bored look in his eyes. When he suddenly looked down at you though, his eyes looked different. They were… sparkling.

            “Shit.” You muttered.

            “What?” he asked, looking around, suddenly alarmed.

            You grabbed his arm, trying to get him to sit back down. “Sorry, I - it’s nothing. I was thinking about how I have a load of laundry waiting for me when I get home.” Fake. You were thinking about how crazy it was to see his eyes sparkle. You thought sparkling eyes was just a fabricated lie in stories.

            He relaxed, and sunk back into the couch. “Do you feel okay?” he asked, slightly worried.

            You waved your hand, and placed Hoshi’s cup on the coffee table. “I’m fine. I’m just tired.” You yawned again.

            “Do you want to sleep?” he asked.

            “No, it’s fine. We can talk. Just make sure it’s nothing too boring or I’ll fall asleep.” You joked, turning to lean your shoulder and head on the couch, facing Minghao. He was much closer than you realized. You could see his infinity earring up close. “What does this earring mean?” you asked, poking it with your finger, and watching it swing. He turned towards you, resting his arm on the back of the couch, hand around his jaw.

            He smiled shyly. “It’s an infinity sign, but it’s also the number 8. 8 is a well-liked number in China. It kind of connects me home.” You nodded.

            “Okay, makes sense.” Your hair slipped over your shoulder, falling in front of your face. “Is there anything about you I don’t know? Like something major?”

            He blushed. “Well, I dance.”

            You gasped. “What?”

            He nodded. “Yeah, and I did b-boying in China for six years.”

            “The _fuck_ Minghao? That’s so cool? And you’re only telling me this now?” You asked, astounded.

            “I also do Chinese Wushu.”

            You leaned back, and placed your hand on your chest. You stared at him in awe for a moment, watching him shyly rub his cheek, the dim lighting of the room catching on his earrings and his eyes. “I feel like I’m talking to a legend in the flesh. Can I even be seen with you right now?” you shook your head. “You sing too!” you remembered. “I heard you sing when you walked me home!” You clapped your hand against your forehead. Minghao chuckled sheepishly.

            “You gotta dance or somethin. I gotta see it.”

            He shook his head, laughing. “Another time.”

            You groaned, and pulled on his jacket. “Please.”

            He held your fists around his jacket and leaned in. “I’m slightly intoxicated right now too. I don’t want to risk messing up in front of you while dancing because I’ve been drinking.” His voice was so soft, and his breath was washing over your skin. You shivered.

            He was so close, you could see his individual eyelashes. Somehow, your heart was not beating erratically. You felt eerily calm. You sighed, and nodded. “Okay. But you have to show me sometime. Promise?” You asked, looking in his eyes.

            He reached out to push your falling hair behind your ear. “I promise.” He said.

            You smiled, and suddenly yawned again. Minghao chuckled, and peeled off his jacket. His arms were visible now, under his black tee shirt. They were athletically built, you subtly noticed. He reached out to put his jacket around you, and gently pulled your head over to rest on his shoulder. “Go ahead and rest. I know you’re tired.”

            You certainly weren’t going to pass this opportunity up. You _were_ tired. And, you couldn’t find yourself caring what others thought if they passed by. You nodded sleepily, and shut your eyes, and pulled your legs up under you.

            He was humming quietly, so only you could hear. You smiled. “I like your voice.” You mumbled. You could feel him smiling. “Thank you.” He said quietly. You felt déjà vu hit you from the first time you heard him singing.

            You didn’t really know if you had fallen asleep for that long when suddenly Minghao was pulling you up and slipping you on his back. You groaned. “What are you doing?” you asked sleepily.

            “I’m walking you home. It’s probably better to sleep in your own bed, right?” he chuckled, pulling your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck. He held on to your legs, making sure you wouldn’t fall. His jacket was still safely around your back.

            “I don’t know, I was pretty comfortable sleeping on you.” You mumbled honestly, as he set foot out of the frat house, a cold breeze hitting your skin. Your head rested on the back of his neck. “Are you gonna be okay carrying me this whole way on your back?”

            He scoffed. “1, You’re not that heavy, and 2, I’m a lot stronger than I look. Have some faith in me. I’ll let you know if I need to put you down, but that’s unlikely.”

            “Okay, I’ll trust you.” You said. You had felt sobered up after your nap. “Hey, can you sing for me again?” you asked. Your ear was on his back, and you could hear his heart beating. It started beating a bit faster every time you spoke, which made your heart warm. After talking to him tonight, you couldn’t help but feel that maybe the feelings were being reciprocated. You were nervous as hell about it, but you might as well go for it.

            He started to sing softly under his breath. You bobbed your head along to the beat of the slow song he sang. It felt so natural to be with him like this. You didn’t feel embarrassed, though you might be when you woke up in the morning. Best to put that off as long as possible.

            You could feel his voice rumble in his chest against your skin. He managed to make it the whole way to your dorm, and gently put you down. You felt more awake than ever, being with Minghao like this, just the two of you alone. You didn’t really want to leave him.

            He asked suddenly, “Is your roommate here?”

            “No, she’s out visiting family. It’s a three-day weekend.” You said, hopeful he would stay with you a bit longer. You were feeling braver than you ever had.

            “Should I maybe… keep you company? Like we talked about that one time?” he asked, his cheeks burning, scratching the back of his neck.

            You laughed. “Come in, please.” You opened the door, and held it open for him. He grinned shyly and came in after you. You pulled his jacket tight around your shoulders, ducking your face down, trying to hide your ridiculous smile. How could he simply agree to continue talking to you for a few more hours and it made your heart soar? He had effects on you that no one else had ever had on you before, as unbelievably cheesy as that sounded. Jesus.

            He stood awkwardly in your hallway, hands in his pockets, staring at the ceiling, or his shoes. You opened your door, hoping that your dorm wasn’t too messy. After being relieved your dorm room wasn’t looking like a pigsty, you opened up the door for Minghao. He stepped in after you, and you decided to sit in the middle of the room on the carpet. He sat down on the floor after you.

            “Where’s that pile of laundry you said you needed to do?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

            “Oh, uh… It’s somewhere.” You said, shrugging. A sudden thought occurred to you. “Do the others know we left?”

            “I told Joshua, but I didn’t run into anyone else.” He said shyly. “I didn’t really want to endure their pestering if I told them.”

            You laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, it might look fishy…”

            “But,” he started hurriedly. “It’s not fishy, I just wanted to get you home safe. I don’t have like, an ulterior motive or anything. I promise. I wanted to spend more time with you too.” He admitted.

            You laughed. “I know, don’t worry. I trust you. I wouldn’t have invited you into my dorm if I didn’t trust you.”

            He looked relieved. “That’s good,” He swallowed. “I trust you too.”

            You grinned. “Really?”

            “Yeah, of course. I wouldn’t have shown you that ugly picture of me if I didn’t trust you.” He scoffed.

            You laughed. “It was really ugly.”

            “Hey!” he, said, pretending to be hurt.           

            You seemed to talk forever. It was so easy to talk to Minghao. He always knew how to make you laugh, and ultimately, how to make you happy.

            At this thought, you pulled his jacket around your shoulders again, and tried to grin discreetly to yourself. He noticed. “What?” he asked. “Do you think I look cute again?”

            You rolled your eyes. “You always look cute Minghao, but that’s not what I was thinking about.”

            “I always look cute?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

            You huffed. “Yes, get over it.” You muttered quietly. You hoped your blushing wasn’t obvious in the dimmed light of the dorm room. You could never lie to Minghao. His eyes always made you spill whatever you were thinking.

            He reached out suddenly to touch your blushing cheek. You jolted, and looked up at him. He was a lot closer than you remembered him to be. “You look cute whenever you’re blushing.” He said softly, grinning slightly. He was always better at saying things like that without looking embarrassed. They were just facts to him, and he had no reason to be sheepish. You wished you could hold that same confidence.

            Suddenly, his face was getting closer. Your heart was hammering like a bullet being ricocheted in your chest. He studied your expression, and placed a hand gently on your hair, over your neck. “I think I want to kiss you.” He said, barely above a whisper. Thoughts were racing in your mind, too fast to discern from one another, most of them a form of excited screeching.

           One phrase came from your racing thoughts and out your mouth. “Go ahead then,” you whispered, feeling brave. You could feel your hands shaking slightly in anticipation of what was going to happen. He grinned ear to ear, mirroring a grin on you, and you fluttered your eyes closed as his lips touched yours. His other hand came up to rest on the side of your face, and your hands flitted up to rest on his chest. His lips were so soft. It felt like he was savoring this moment, much like you were, going slow and soft. You reached your hands up, running your fingers through the short hair on the back of his head.

           The moment seemed to last forever, until he broke away and rested his forehead on yours. You both took a moment to catch your breaths. Suddenly, you cracked up hysterically. Instead of questioning why you were laughing, Minghao started laughing with you. You pulled back, covering your mouth with your hand. You were probably laughing to release all this pent-up emotion you were feeling.

           “Wow.” Minghao said simply, after you both stopped laughing.

           “Wow,” you echoed. “Indeed.” You had just _kissed_ Minghao. Your mind was reeling. “How long did you ‘want to kiss me’ then?” you mocked him jokingly.

           He grinned, and pulled your hair around your ear. “Since we had our first conversation.” He decided to answer the question truthfully.

           You thought back to your first conversation with him, and pulled in your eyebrows. “You wanted to kiss me while I was acting crazy because I was dehydrated and tipsy?”

          “Your smile did it for me.” He said, staring down at his hands, remembering the memory. “When I saw you smile while we were talking, I just… All I knew was that I wanted to see you keep smiling. I wanted to make you smile more.” His smile was fond, remembering. Your heart warmed. You leaned your head on his shoulder, as he continued. “I didn’t even realize I liked you. I just wanted to see you smile.” He leaned his cheek on your head.

          “I didn’t realize my smile was so addictive.”

          “It’s crack.” He joked.

           You sighed, relishing this feeling. The feeling of his hand on your knee, your head on his shoulder, his cheek on your head. The sound of his quiet breath, and the way his breath felt on your skin. “What did you want to say to me that night that you walked me home? It seemed like you wanted to say something, but you didn’t.” You said suddenly.

           “Oh, that.” He said. He thought back to that night. “I wanted to tell you that you looked beautiful with the streetlight illuminating your face in the darkness, but I decided against it. We had only just talked.”

           “I would have kissed you right there if you had told me that.”

           “Really?”

           “Probably not, I’m not that brave. But I would have swooned inside my head.” He laughed. You pulled away to look at him. “I’m glad you decided that you wanted to kiss me tonight.” You said. Your cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing.

           “I’m glad you told me I could.”

           He checked the time on his phone, and sighed. It was 2 am. “I should get back to my dorm. I don’t want my roommate Mingyu asking me questions I don’t feel like answering.”

           “Why don’t you want to answer them?” you asked, standing up after he did.

           He picked up your hand and held it with both of his. “Because I want to keep you to myself, for now.”

            You cringed. “Wow, that was cheesy as hell.”

            He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m being honest.” He was so straightforward.

            You rolled your eyes. “Okay, whatever. Go back to your dorm room and avoid Mingyu.”

            “___.” He said suddenly.

            “Mmm?”

            “Can I take you out on a date tomorrow?”

            “Are you that eager to see me so soon?”

            “Yes. Don’t you want to see me?” he asked, smiling.

            “I guess I could give you my time. I’ll admit I want to see you again soon.” You joked, poking his arm.

            “It’s a date then.” He grinned widely. “I’ll be here around 12.”

            “You better get going then, so I can have some beauty rest!” you said, walking to the door.  You handed him his jacket, and he flashed you one last lingering smile before he headed out the door. After he left, you shut the door and leaned your back against the door, sliding to the floor. You held your flushed cheeks, replaying tonight’s events in your head. “Wow.” You whispered into the empty room.


	5. Chapter 5

            You could barely sleep that night. You just stared at your ceiling, and listened to your heart pounding in your ears. But you managed to fall asleep eventually, one person on your mind. When you woke up to your alarm, you thought it was a joke to see the alarm labeled “date with minghao.” Your mind went back to last night, and your fingers reached up to touch your lips, remembering the kiss you had shared. You grinned, and moved your fingers to rest on your heart. You had a newfound motivation to get ready for the day, despite the fact that you’d really only gotten a few hours of sleep.

            You decided to get breakfast first, walking down to the dining hall, yawning as you went. You were afraid to see Minghao as funny as that sounded. How would you act around him? All of this was so new. Like five-hours-ago new. Your heart was hammering at the thought of seeing him.

            While pouring a small milk carton into your bowl of cereal, someone slammed their tray down in front of you, and sat down. You stared up in shock, seeing Joshua looking very expectantly at you.

            “___.” He said.

            You blushed, and rubbed your nose, trying to play nonchalant. “Yes, Joshua?”

            “What. The. Hell. Happened.”

            You pursed your lips, and stared out the window. “A lot.” You admitted.

            “Yeah I _guessed_ from how happy Minghao looked walking back to his room at 2 am!” You grinned, and covered your mouth. “Spill the tea!” Joshua demanded, grabbing your wrist.

            The truth was, you were dying to tell someone. Joshua was just about the closest friend you had here anyway, and you wanted to tell a friend. You sighed, giving in. “Alright,” you said, rolling your eyes. “So, we were at the party, and sitting on this couch, right? And we were just talking about everything and then I started to get sleepy and Minghao noticed so he put his jacket over me and put my head on his shoulder and told me I could sleep on him.” You said in a rushed breath.

            Joshua nodded. “Yeah, I saw you two.” You blushed, realizing how many people would have saw you sleeping on Minghao. “He kept peeking at you with all this fondness in his eyes.”

            You swatted at him. “Stop lying,” he interjected that he wasn’t lying but you continued anyway. “So eventually he woke me up and then pulled me onto his back to piggyback me back to my dorm, and we just talked the whole way there. And then he put me down at my dorm, and okay HOLD ON backstory: we had promised to keep each other company…” You continued telling him everything, Joshua listening very intent and nodding and gasping at just the right moments. After you had (embarrassed, and blushing furiously) told him that the two of you had kissed, Joshua leaned back in his chair, and stared up at the ceiling, hand over his face. He quickly reeled back and held your cheeks, squishing them.

            “I can’t believe you’re so grown up now…” Joshua whispered. “My baby… grown up.”

            “Joshua,” you whined. Once he had let go of your cheeks you added, “we’re going on a date today. Which I have to go get ready for now.” You said, checking the time. Joshua trailed after you as you put your food in the trash and put your tray away.

            “You have to tell me everything.” Joshua said, pulling on the back of your shirt as you walked. You rolled your eyes. “Also, tell me if he tries anything funny because if he does, I’ll beat him up.” You laughed.

            “You would beat up one of your best friends for me?”

            “If my best friend is being a dick to my best friend, I would beat them up.” Joshua said, as if it was obvious. “Or I would ask Seungcheol to yell at him because I’m not physical.”

            You shook your head. “Okay, got it Joshua. How about you just tell me to have a good time and leave me to peace and to think to myself?” You laughed, pushing his ribs gently with your elbow. You needed space to breathe, truthfully. You were nervous as hell.

            Maybe Joshua noticed you were nervous, because he stopped, and put his hands on your shoulders and steeled you to look at him. “___.” He said suddenly serious. “You’re a great person, and Minghao is lucky to be able to spend even a moment with you. He likes you a lot, and you two will have a great time. Just be yourself. Remember- he’s already seen you act like a dumbass and stuck around, so you can’t drive him away with your antics.” Joshua said in a calm voice. His words washed a sense of relief over you, and you sighed.

            “Thank you, Joshua.” You said genuinely. You grinned. “Okay, I’m off to get ready.” You waved goodbye as you jogged the last few paces to your dorm.

            After getting out of the shower, you stood in front of your closet, towel in hair, staring at all your options. You must’ve sat there for ten minutes. You finally picked out a white off-the-shoulder shirt that tucked into some high-waisted jeans, and paired it with a black belt and low black heels. A gold necklace with a heart hung close around your neck, not quite a choker. You finished blow drying your hair, and tried to make it look a bit curly and bouncy to your best abilities. You anxiously looked in the mirror, hoping it would be okay. Sitting down in your desk, you began to do your makeup, something that did bring you some peace and sanity.

            You were done around 11:30 so you were left to pace around your room for thirty minutes in anticipation. At 11:50 Minghao texted you that he was on his way, and your heartbeat started to beat like it was running a marathon. You did a few jumping jacks, and then shook out your limbs, and gave yourself a pep talk, which made you remember how you gave yourself a pep talk after the first time you had seen Minghao. You slung your black cross-body purse across your body, and once again examined your full outfit in the mirror. You had to admit that you did look cute. You twisted your leg to admire your legs in heels. Your phone buzzed.

            _I’m outside the dorm, I didn’t know if you wanted me to come up…_ Minghao had sent.

You chuckled. He must be nervous too. _I’m coming!_ You sent.

            You took one last look, checking for any minor flaws in your makeup you could fix, and then headed out the door, heart in your throat. When you got to the door of the dorm, you saw Minghao standing outside through the window, his hands in his pockets, looking nervous, and staring out at the courtyard. You got a chance to admire his outfit secretly, which consisted of ripped black jeans and a loose striped button up that seemed to be made of a silky material and hung past his hips. You quietly told your racing heart to ‘calm the hell down’ and then pushed the door open. He whipped around immediately, and his faced showed a clear face of shock once he eyed you from your head to your toes. He swallowed. He said your name hoarsely as you walked closer to him, heels making quiet sounds against the pavement. You secretly felt glee seeing him so flustered.

            “Hi,” you said, flashing a smile, that was slightly devilish.

            He cleared his throat, and stowed his phone into his pocket. “You look beautiful.” He said, tentatively reaching out to brush your arm with his hand. “As always.” He added. You laughed, trying to diffuse the slightly awkward tension.

            “You don’t look half bad yourself.” You said, looking at his outfit again, and then admired how soft his hair looked, parted on the side, making him look years younger.

            “Thank you,” he said, clearing his voice again. “So, shall we go?” he asked, scratching the back of his neck. At least you weren’t the only nervous one. But you had barely ever seen him nervous, and it was a weird feeling to know that _you_ were catching a usually calm and collected Minghao off guard. It made you feel more confident. He started to lead the way, and you trailed beside him.

            “What did you have planned?” you asked.

            “Have you eaten lunch yet? I thought we could walk around the city and visit some street vendors. I haven’t gotten a chance to explore the city yet and I thought it would be fun to do so with you.” He said, gaining a bit of his confidence back and recovering. He flashed you a smile.

            “That sounds great!” you said. You reached your hand to loop around and sit on the inside of his elbow. He jumped in surprise, but didn’t remove your hand. “Is this okay?” you asked, a bit worried he might say no.

            He laughed. “It’s more than okay.” He reassured you, relaxing, and used his free hand to pat your hand. The two of you had kissed, after all. You wondered if he would kiss you again today. You looked down at your shoes and grinned at the thought.

            “I haven’t gotten a chance to explore the city either. Too busy with school.”

            “Then we can experience it together.” He seemed happy at the thought.

            “We might get lost together too.” You joked. The more time you spent with Minghao, the more comfortable you felt.

            The two of you walked from the campus, and into the city. Your university was located in a medium sized city, not too big, but not too small either. It was on the water, so it was bound to be a bit populated. You hoped your heels wouldn’t hinder you during the date, which might involve a bit of walking.

            He led you to a bustling street full of vendors, as well as clothing shops. He announced that it was Main Street. “I did some research on the best places to explore.” He admitted.

            “Did you do all your researching last night after you left?” you asked quizzically.

            He covered his shy smile. “I’ve been planning to ask you on a date for a while. I researched all of this a bit ago.”

            You laughed, and leaned into his arm. “Nice.”

            You both kept walking peacefully, the sounds of the crowd bubbling in the background. Your first stop was a vender carrying churros, which you pointed out excitedly, not being able to think to hide your eagerness even a little. Minghao walked you there wordlessly, no question. “Two churros please.” Minghao asked, and you pulled away from his arm so he could pull out his wallet and grab the churros.

            “Here, let me pay for min-” You started, reaching into your purse.

            “No way in hell.” Minghao denied, handing you your churro after swiftly paying.

You rolled your eyes. “Thank you.”

            He held out his arm subtly, hinting for you to loop your arm around it again. You gladly obliged, and proceeded to bite into the churro. You were glad you had decided not to wear lipstick. “Is it good?” he asked.

            “ _So_ good,” you groaned. “I haven’t had a churro in years. How’s yours?”

            “It’s pretty good.” He agreed.

            “So, Minghao, tell me about this whole dancing business.” You said, searching for a topic to talk about as the two of you walked slowly down the street.

            “If I start talking about dancing, I might not be able to stop.” He warned.

            “My ears are open.” You sang.

            Pushing his hair out of his eyes, he swallowed the bit of his churro before opening his mouth to speak. “I was interested in dance after I started Wushu in China. I started to do b-boying after that, and then I moved here. When I moved here, I met all the guys in freshman year of high school. I met Jun first, and because he was from China too, I felt comfortable around him. He introduced me to the rest of the guys, and we all clicked. We’ve been best friends ever since.  Some of the guys in the group were into dancing, and they really encouraged me to pursue dancing more. Soonyoung, Jun, Chan and I all dance together sometimes. Soonyoung encourages me a lot.” He grinned at his feet at the memories. “We would all practice together a lot, just for fun. They’ve challenged me to better my skills.”

            You were entranced by his words. You wanted to listen to his whole life story. You just wanted to hear him talk forever, his soft tone echoing in your ears, his words careful and sincere. You really couldn’t believe he _liked_ you. He had _kissed_ you. You could listen to him talk to your heart’s content.

            He did end up talking about dancing for a long time, and you didn’t mind one bit. You reminded him of his promise to you, to dance for you one day. He put his hand over yours, and said sincerely, “I will uphold my promise. I swear it.” You grinned in agreement.

            You and Minghao made it all the way down Main Street, and turned around to walk back again to visit the shops on the other side of the street. Minghao had bought you two a small lunch too. You checked the time on your phone. You and Minghao had already spent two hours together, and you didn’t want for it to end just yet. Minghao looked interested in an outfit in a store, and when you asked him if he wanted to go in, and he said no, you rolled your eyes and drug him inside. You examined the outfit, and asked him, “Which piece do you like best?” He was blubbering on about it wasn’t important, and how we could go somewhere that you liked instead. “Minghao, _please._ Just try on the piece that you like best. Or, find something else in the store.”

            He finally obliged, and picked out a distressed jean jacket to go try on. He pulled it on, and looked at the outfit in the mirror. You grinned widely. “It looks so good! Do you like it?” you asked. You just wanted to buy _something_ he liked for him. You didn’t want him spending all his money on you without you doing something for him in return that would make him happy. He grinned shyly at you in the mirror, and admitted he liked it. “Okay, say no more. I’m sold. I’ll buy it for you.” He protested, saying that he would buy him itself, and he really didn’t need it. You placed your fingers over his lips, cutting off his speech. His lips parted under your skin slightly. You ignored the feeling of his lips, because that would only lead to you thinking about kissing, which you didn’t want to be distracted by. “I don’t want to hear it. Just let me do one damn nice thing for you after all the nice things you’ve done for me. Can you let me do that?” you sighed, folding the jacket over your arm.

            He reached down suddenly to press a kiss to your cheek, causing you to blush. “Thank you.” He whispered in your ear, causing you to shiver. You cleared your throat, and stepped away to choke out a _you’re welcome_ , and headed to the counter to pay, flustered. He followed you, chuckling.

            You handed him the bag after stepping out of the store. “Now, I don’t want to hear about how I shouldn’t have bought it. I’m not returning it. Just enjoy it.” He slid the bag up his arm, and threw his other arm over your shoulders, squeezing you reassuringly.

            You walked halfway down the street again, until you started feeling your feet flare up in pain because of the heels. You shifted uncomfortably, and stifled a grimace. You didn’t want to ruin this date, you wanted to spend more time with him. But you just couldn’t walk in these damn heels anymore. You tried to ignore it, and you managed to for a little bit.

            You walked a bit more, and suddenly your heel was falling into a crack, and your ankle twisted, causing it to flare up in pain, as you fell against Minghao with a short yell in surprise. He caught you easily, sliding his arms around your stomach, holding you against him. “Are you alright?” he asked worriedly.

            “Just these damn heels getting in the way,” you sighed. “Sorry, I’m alright.” You got up, and rolled your ankle around, making sure you hadn’t injured it too badly. Minghao withdrew his arms, but he had one hand on your shoulder, stabilizing you. It didn’t hurt much, but it was dully throbbing.

He didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure you can walk?” he asked.

            “Yeah, I can walk back to the campus.” You said.  “Could we do something that doesn’t require walking at the campus? I don’t want to say goodbye just yet.” You grinned.

            He looked relieved. “We can do anything you want.” He reassured you. “But first…” He was suddenly crouching in front of you and pulling you onto his back causing you to exclaim in surprise. “I don’t want you to twist your ankle again.” He said, in response to you asking was he was doing.

            You fake gasped. “How heroic of you.” You said, wrapping your arms around his neck, accepting his help. You could feel him rolling his eyes. You were glad you could still joke around and tease him, even though you had a new dynamic to your relationship. You took this opportunity to lay your ear against his back again, and listen to his heartbeat. “You sure you can still carry me back? This is a longer distance from the frat house.” Your feet were already feeling better.

            “Trust me for once, ___.” Minghao said, and you felt his voice rumbling in his chest under your cheek. You popped your head up and rested your chin on his shoulder.

            “Why do you want to be a marine biologist?” you asked him.

            “I love the ocean,” he said easily. “95% of the ocean is unexplored. There’s a whole lot to learn, and I want to learn it all.”

            “That’s how I feel about the universe. It’s so mysterious, but I wasn’t smart enough to study astrophysics for all that math, no matter how interesting the rest of it is.” You sighed.

            “Does international business make you happy?” he asked you.

            You thought about it. “I’m… not sure. I haven’t experienced it enough of it to make a decision, if I’m being honest.” You murmured. “I hope it does.”

            He reached up to squeeze your hands around his neck. “If it doesn’t, there’s a major in the world for everybody. I promise.”

            “Thank you, Minghao.” You said, surprised.

            Before you knew it, and without complaints from Minghao, he had delivered the two of you to campus. You hopped off his back, feeling bad he had carried you this far. You could at least walk the rest of the way across the campus. You insisted that you were alright, and walked beside him. Your feet didn’t feel as bad as before, now that they had time to rest.

            “So, what do you want to do now?” Minghao asked, stretching his back.

            “Hmm...” you rubbed your chin. “We could sit by the beach.”

            “That sounds good!” He agreed, nodding.

            “Or, we could hang out with all the boys together!”

            He looked horrified. “Are you kidding? The amount of teasing we would endure…”

            You laughed. “I was kidding. That’s the last thing I want to do right now.” He sighed in relief. You were almost positive all of the boys knew you two were on a date right now. “So, beach?”

            You had grabbed a picnic blanket from your dorm on the way (as well as ditching your heels for sandals) to the beach. You spread the picnic blanket over the sand and sat down, patting the space next to you. Minghao sat down next to you, his long limbs taking up most of the space. You both spent a while staring at the waves, not having to say anything, sitting in a comfortable silence.

            “Can you believe all of this happened like eight hours ago?” you suddenly said, in disbelief.

            Minghao nodded. “It’s crazy. It was a long time coming, though.”

            You turned to look at him. “A long time coming huh?”

            “Yeah, I knew you liked me.” He said confidently.

            “Oh, really?” you scoffed. “Wow. How do you think you knew?”

            “Well, you did call me cute a lot.”

            “I call Joshua cute too.” You argued.

            He shook his head. “You don’t get embarrassed when you tell Joshua that, but you always got embarrassed when saying it to me. It’s like it slipped out when you weren’t realizing it.” You pursed your lips. That was true. “And, we talked all the time. Even more than you and your best friend Joshua did. Don’t you think that says something?”

            You scoffed. “It says you’re better at holding a conversation than Joshua is.”

            “Okay, whatever. I was right though. You liked me.” he asked, lying down on the blanket to stare up at the sky. You muttered out a _yeah, whatever_ and watched the waves roll. You were smiling though. Minghao poked your side, and said, “Come down here and stare at the sky with me.” You were surprised at the sudden request, but stifled your awkwardness as you laid your shoulder down beside his. You placed your hands over your stomach, and brought up your knees. You stared at the clouds with him for a while, pointing out shapes.

           Minghao dozed off for about twenty minutes. You had looked over an hour into cloud watching and saw his eyes fluttered close, and his chest slowly rising and falling. You weren’t sure if that meant he was so comfortable and peaceful he could sleep, or if he was bored to death, or if he was tired from staying up late with you and carrying you around today. Either way, he looked like a resting angel that made your heart ache. You turned on your side to look at him instead of the sky. You reached out a hand to fix his hair and part it correctly again. A sudden comfortable feeling flittered into your chest, that made you feel that you could do this with Minghao every day. It kind of made you want to cry. You turned back in your back before he could wake up and see you staring at him. But instead, his voice mumbled out, “Do I look cute?” You blushed, and thought _shit_ inside your head because he was seemingly awake.

           “Very.” You said, crossing your arms.

           “That felt nice.”

           “What, your mock nap?” You said, feeling sour that you had been tricked.

           “No, your fingers in my hair.”

            Your heart hammered. You were still unused to all of this. But, you summoned up your courage. Like Joshua said, there was nothing to be afraid of. You couldn’t chase him off with your antics. You turned back towards him, and he was giving you an all-too-innocent gaze. You sighed, and reached out your hand again to play with his soft hair. His eyes fluttered close at your touch, and a dreamy smile glittered on his face. You shook your head with a grin. You propped yourself on your elbow to get a better position.

           Suddenly, as your fingers trailed from his hair to the side of his chin, Minghao opened his eyes again, searching your gaze and expression. Your hand paused on the side of his face, as you two locked eyes for a moment, before Minghao pulled you down to plant a sweet kiss on your lips. You smiled into the kiss, pulling your hand around to run through the back of his hair.

            After he had pulled away, you couldn’t stop smiling. You tried to cover it with your hands, but failed when a giggle escaped your lips. You rolled your head back as you smiled, and then looked back to catch his face in between your hands. He looked slightly confused.

            “I think I like you a whole lot.” You said. “You make me happy.”

            “Wow, it’s only our first date, and you’re making confessions?”

             You groaned, and pulled away. He caught your hands, and pulled you close again, catching you off guard. He was very close. “You make me happy too.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper. He didn’t need to talk loud for you to hear him, with him this close to you. You could see every detail on his face, and could feel his breath gently blowing on your face. You could see all of the fly hairs sticking to his forehead in the heat. You suddenly felt shy this close to him, and hid your face in his neck. He was giggling, a sound you could never get tired of, while he rubbed your back.

            Walking back, you grabbed his hand, and swung it back and forth between the two of you. When he squeezed your hand, you could feel your heart thumping in response. “You’re adorable.” He chuckled.

            “Shut up.”


End file.
